


Aboard The Ether

by Terra_Fuze



Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work, Science Fiction - Fandom
Genre: Eventual Romance, Furry, Gay, Gay Character, M/M, Outer Space, Romance, Science Fiction, Space Station, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27282658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terra_Fuze/pseuds/Terra_Fuze
Summary: An original sci-fi furry romance storyIt follows a part-cat and part-hyena, full name Fuze Kattundyena, a resident and cargo bay worker for the Ether space station.[WIP, Duh.]
Relationships: Fuze Kattundyena (OC)/Andrick Trevund(OC)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Another Day in Cargo Storage Delta

Sitting inside one of the ship's dimly-lit cargo storage rooms, alone on an adjusted dumbbell bench, was a lonesome half cat half striped-hyena spacer. His grey work-hour jumpsuit read only his first name on a small in-fabric tag on his chest: Fuze. The ship's emblem asserted itself on the side of his shoulder. The Ether.

The Ether ship was a Mark II, Station-Class Large Working and Residency Traveler, serialized as 'Mk II SC-LWRT-E'. It's one of the largest single space vessels ever made, capable of having up to 1,000 people permanently aboard. The Ether had multiple paid jobs for it's inhabitants. One could be employed for one of the luxury rooms on recreation floors - chefs, bartenders, musicians, visual artists, coders for recreational apps and games, the whole works. But those where the tier-1 jobs. Not many had them. Most had tier-2; accountants, pencil-pushers, core program coders, onboard security jobs, armed spacecraft security pilots. Fuze held a tier-3 job; a low-end hands-on type of job- some being electrical engineers, mechanics, engine room workers, cargo fliers. Fuze was an in-station cargo sorter in the Ether Courier department, assigned for Cargo Bay Beta. 

Fuze worked from 08:00 to 17:00 hours, or 9:00am to 5:00pm for the planetary time system. At the end of each of those full work shifts, 56 Credits are deposited into his file. It wasn't all that much. Worse, although there's machinery to help, it's fairly physically-intensive work. The Ether had some good gravity systems, but it was still lighter than a planet. Thus, in order to avoid atrophy and maintain planetary strong levels of vitality, everybody onboard has some level of exercise. However, Fuze, out of everyone, needs it the most. He was born on one of the smaller green planets, growing partway up in a lower-than-average pressure of gravity. The Ether's standard gravity was heavier than his home despite not being as hefty as the regular planets'.

Yes - partway. He came aboard at age 15, 4 years ago. He hadn't fully physically developed, and the environment caused chronic pain for around a year. And even then, his body, late into the maturing process, didn't have much time to adapt and develop stronger. Not only did he have to push himself hard to make his body strong and in-shape enough to not be in pain, but he must maintain it well to stave off both atrophy and his biology wanting to revert back to it's weaker natural development. Some days, a cargo container would make his legs or arms give out. He'd then have to take the rest of the day off, losing his small pay and having to continue working on his body. 

Today was one of those days. His legs had suddenly failed him while moving a crate of munitions for the security department, making him collapse with his lower body momentarily limp and in pain.

So now, he was alone in Storage D, working out privately. He wasn't fond of the gym, too many people. Too many people who didn't understand why Fuze was always skinnier relative to them. He had all the workout gear he needed in Storage D. He did also have a set of equipment in a personal pool subroom in the pool facility room, but that wasn't for today. Not after a bodily failure.

The hyena-cat sighed after staring off into the black metal wall while those thoughts danced in his head. He resumed his current exercise - using his legs to push a heavy dumbbell up and down it's rack. Slowly. The silent hum of the room was deafening. Fuze'd felt lonely since first coming aboard. Hardly anybody spoke to him beyond the most basic, brief, formal matter. These exercise sessions in Storage D only hit on this harder.

The quietness does make him more attentive to notice things.

About 30 minutes ago, when he first got in, the security camera of the room had it's 'active watcher' light turned on. The light's been on in the corner of his eye since. Curious, Fuze rears his head and looks straight at it.

"What's the issue, cam-man?" He jokes, not expecting a response.

His ears flicker and his eyes open wide when the camera's audio output is used. A voice comes from it.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just watching." A timid man's voice.

"...I see. Why? This storage room's probably the quietest place on Ether- hang on a second, do you think I'm gonna steal something in here?" The hyena-cat questioned.

"N-No! Of course not! I've never watched you nor read reports of you that suggest suspicious activity."

"...watched me?"

"Yeah. It's my job to watch the cams, you know. Of course I've seen you too."

"You phrased this kinda funny before that, though."

"I-I guess so. My bad..."

"Ehhh... it's alright. But can you answer why you've been watching me for the past 30 minutes in a row?"

"U-Uhm... well, I got a report that you had an injury and were going to exercise, so I'm watching to keep you safe in case your legs fail twice and you start being crushed by the dumbbell."

"Ahhhhhh well," Fuze sighed, "I guess that makes enough sense. As if anybody'd lay eyes on me beyond something to do with work."

"...why beat yourself up?" The voice seemed a bit... sincere in that concerned question.

"I... hmm. I don't know how to put it, but... lemme ask you something: have you ever felt lonely, cam-man?"

"M-my name's not cam-man, it's Andrick. And... yeah, I suppose so. Doesn't everybody feel lonely sometimes?"

"It's more than sometimes for me. It's... almost constant, y'know?" Fuze said, moving his eyes from looking at the camera.

"...that sucks."

"Yeah. It does. It really, really, REALLY does." Fuze let out a huff, sighing after speaking with such brief anger. "....sorry."

"It's fine."

"Yeah... eheh," Fuze softly laughed, faintly smiling. "y'know, it's actually kind of nice to be speaking with somebody, Andrick."

"Likewise. I actually decided to just kinda keep my cam screen on you because I'm bored outta my mind... usually, it's me and 2 coworkers in this security office. It's only me today, though." The voice sounded relaxed.

Fuze got the idea to try to actually get into contact with Andrick. The room was silent for a moment as he built up the courage to ask. Though he was earnestly enjoying the conversation, he still had a hard time being social from his isolation.

"Say... Andrick?" Fuze's voice cracked nervously.

"Yeah?"

"....can I have your holophone contact? So we can like... talk, more. At actual places and st-stuff."

"...u-uhm.... y-yeah, sure. Sure. Okay, uhm... I've..." there was audible rustling of a filing drawer. "...got your info file here. I'll send my contact to yours."

"...thanks." Fuze responded, hearing his phone buzz on the crate next to him.

"Not a problem, Fuze." Andrick said, reassuringly.

"Nghhhaaaalright," The cat-hyena said with a grunt, getting the dumbbell lodged on it's handle. "...what time's your shift over?"

A pause.

"18:30. So in an hour."

"...want to meet at 18:45 in Serenity? It's a bar... in, uhm, I think it's in sector R-F2. It's not very full... I'll be waiting in one of the booths at the back."

"Sounds good to me! Alright... I should probably start skimming through the other cams now, so, uhm, I'll see you there. Bye..."

"Byeee!" Fuze said with a soft smile, waving at the camera. Then, it's light flicked off.

Fuze grabbed his phone and bag, and quickly left Storage Delta. He paced through the residential corridors at a brisk pace, which wasn't common for him. As if he'd usually have something good to look forward too. Besides playing games on the computer in his quarters, but that wasn't the same. Finally, he was gonna spend some real time with somebody. The name 'Andrick' floated warmly in his mind. Andrick, huh...

He soon reached his door. Flashing the keycard from his bag at the panel beside it, the door slid open with a mechanical 'shvvvvnnnmf' and the lights within flickered on. His room was... quite subpar. It was intensely claustrophobic, only large enough for maybe 4 of himself to fit in at once, but that'd be full to the extent that fur would be protruding from the bottom of the door, with the inside being like a tin of sardines. Speaking of a tin of sardines, that was his dinner. On Ether, one didn't have to buy food from the stores or restaurants aboard- which were fairly pricey -but the given food would be the most basic of basic. Not bad, it had the nutrients. But a minifridge filled only with tins of sardines and tuna, cans of plain 'meat', the same labeled bag of veggies, and electrolyte water was a minifridge so ugly that it mocked Fuze. 

Sometimes he could have particular food items swapped out with another kind, but the way it was right now was good enough. He was heavily part-cat, after all. The stuff in the tins tasted fine to him. Why waste the money when the free stuff is nice? Then again, everybody else openly hated the taste of the sardines and tuna from what he saw on the Ether-ship discussion forums. Whatever. He took a tin from the fridge, twisting the lid off with his claw, and eating it in a few minutes cold over his small table (which was honestly more of a glorified barshelf). On a normal day, this routine would be gloomy and dull, but today wasn't a normal day. It was likely to be a good day instead; Fuze had a certain peppiness for once.

After his light dinner, he took off his cargo bay uniform jumpsuit and set it in a closet with a bunch of other ones, and then opened his personal closet. He didn't bother wearing his own clothes much, lacking the will and energy to bother changing. But today he finally donned his favorite outfit again.

Black leather jacket? Check. Deep blue shirt? Check. Slick silver-metal boots? Check. Dark jeans? Check. He was ready to go. He looked at himself in the closet mirror with a confident, happy smirk. Checking his phone, the time of meeting was close. With it, he blitzed from his quarters. Down the corridors, through sector R-F2, and to Serenity with 5 minutes to spare.

He sat in the back booth with his ordered drink - water. Water with infused protein molecules. He didn't drink. It was a bit funny, going to a bar and not slamming down alcohol to try and forget his ever-lingering feelings of loneliness and sadness. But that would ultimately do absolutely nothing, if not make everything worse by damaging his liver. Everyone else who ever stepped foot in Serenity acted the same. The bar offered plenty of good non-alcoholic beverages, and patrons tended to buy those. Serenity held up to it's name, really. Good comfortable 'lounge' atmosphere, and people don't ever break the atmosphere. It was very empty today... just him and the barkeep. Right as his phone read '18:30', the door opened. Fuze peeked his head to see.

The entry was a shepherd dog. A bit taller than the cat-hyena, and much wider. He was dressed in a simple snug shirt and sweatpants. He must not've noticed Fuze, as he approached the barkeeper. His voice was nervous... but that's the voice. 

"H-Hello... uhm... is Fuze here, sir?"

The barkeep simply pointed behind with his thumb, getting the dog's vision on Fuze. His eyes widened up as he stepped to the booth, sitting across in it from Fuze.

"...so, you must be Andrick." Fuze said, taking good time to process the image.

"Yes, it's me. Cam-man."

Fuze burst into a brief chuckle. "...hehah... th-that was funny."

Feeling embarrassed after it, the cat-hyena shook his head and coughed into his hand "A-Anyways, hi."

"Hi." Andrick said, followed by an awkward pause. Fuze wasn't good at this. Andrick silently thought how to get conversation going. "...so. Why'd you choose here to meet?"

"W-Well... it's just... cozy here. One of the few places I regularly go to."

"So basically... you come here often?" Andrick poked

Fuze snorted a laugh "Snrk..... I guess so, yeah."

"...does it have anything to do with the drinks?"

"Oh, no, no not at all. What I've got here is my 'usual'. It's protein water."

"That the only non-alcohol they serve?"

"Oh, of course not. I don't drink anything besides water, but they have a fancy soda menu. Why not go order yourself something?"

"Hmm.... sure, why not." Andrick said, getting up

The shepherd walked back over in front of the barkeep, gluing his eyes to the drink menu above for a good minute before eventually making a pick. He couldn't hear from the booth, but the dog seemed pretty enthusiastic. The barkeep handed him a large glass of a yellow, foaming liquid, and then the Shepherd came back.

"What'cha got there?"

"Peach-flavored soda," Andrick replied, taking a test sip of the drink. "...damn, it's good. You wanna try it?"

"No thanks."

"Your loss there." the Shepherd said smugly, taking a much larger swing of the soda.

"Anyway, Fuze- wanna tell me about yourself?"

"I-I guess so, yeah. Uh.... hmm. Well, I've been aboard the Ether for about 4 years."

Andrick raised an eyebrow. "4 years, huh? Nope, no way."

"...didn't you look at my file an hour ago?"

"I was only skimming it for your contact information..."

"Ahhh.... well, I'm not lying. It's been 4 years."

"Are you a 20-something with babyface syndrome?"

"No, and my face isn't a 'babyface'. I'm 19."

"I'm sorry for saying that.... and... 19? Really? That means.... you've been here since age 15?"

"It's okay. And, you're correct about that."

"That kinda explains your figure a bit and why your legs had given out earlier... man, it's not that good for somebody to be a spacer before 100% physical maturity..."

"Oh, tell me about it, man. I can manage, but it's just plain awful."

"Why would you be brought to Ether at age 15?"

"I.... I don't know."

Andrick held his head low for a moment.

"I'm... really sorry about that."

"...that's the first time anybody's spoken with such concern to me..." Fuze let out a brief sniffle. "...thanks."

"...you wanna talk about something that makes you happy?"

"Sure... real quick though... how old're you, and how many years have you been here, Andrick?"

"I'm 19, and've been here for one year."

"I see.... anyways, something that makes me happy. Hmmf.... well... there's a few things. The free sardines and tuna are pretty nice?"

"You like that stuff?!"

"Yes. I'm a bit more than half feline, you know."

"Really... huh. That makes some sense, I guess. What else is there?"

"Well.... hmm. Well, I have one of the side pool rooms permanently rented out to me, and have put a buncha exercise equipment in it-"

"-by the pool or IN the pool?"

"-...in the pool. I use it decently often, and then swim around a lot. The pool's heated, and it's very nice..."

"Didn't you just say you were mostly feline?"

"Yeah? I'm a part-cat that likes water... am I missing something?"

"...not... not really, I dunno. It's a 'thing' that any feline of any amount is typically not very fond of water."

"Huh. That's interesting..."

Another awkward silence as Andrick thought of what else to prompt.

"...Oh! Yeah, uh, question: what's your job again?"

"Cargo bay worker. I help organize and sort the shipments that come in, and the shipments that go out. There's a lot of heavy object moving. There's some machine assistance, but, its still pretty hard..."

"What would you say you would want to do instead?"

"...I'm not gonna put out some big unrealistic thing. So... I guess I'd at least like to actually be a mailflier. Fly a ship to bring cargo to or from Ether. What'd be even better would to be one of the security escort pilots."

"Ahhh, I see. Wish you could fly?"

"I can fly, I actually used to do so back home. But I guess they just didn't want or need any more pilots here."

"...home, eh? Where you from?"

"Älskaron."

"...I don't know where that is."

Fuze sighed. Of course he didn't know. "...its a small city on the planet Vali."

"You're from Vali? Dear god, that's a really small planet... low gravity there. Wait, hold on, you have a hard time doing intense things on this ship's gravity, but it's about 10% lighter than planetary standard... the gravity of planets Mari and Eril. I'm from Eril, by the way. But, anyways, lemme look it up..."

Andrick began tapping rapidly on his holophone, and Fuze sat patiently waiting, taking another sip of water.

"..! It says that Vali's gravity is 35% less than planetary standard. That means that the ship itself is 15% more heavier in it's gravity than where you were born."

"I had a feeling. Never really thought to actually look it up, though."

"Well, that's your feeling confirmed. Honestly? It's very impressive that you're physically well, considering both the fact that you're in simultaneously heavier gravity than your home, and are still subject to atrophy due to it still being in space. That's... really incredible, Fuze."

"...thanks."

"and.... sorry if I'm getting intrusive, but what other species are you partially?"

"The other, 2nd largest part of me is striped hyena."

"Interesting. A cat-hyena mix.... a catyena!"

Fuze blushed and let out a laugh. "Pfffttt.... catyena..."

Fuze went for another sip, only to realize his water's finished. So was Andrick's glass of soda.

"Wait, how long've we been here?" Fuze set, rustling his phone out of his pocket, he turned it on, and, "19:50?! It's been over an hour!"

"H-Hey, do you have someplace to be?"

"N-No, I'm just a bit surprised how much time's past. I guess I... really like talkin' to you."

 _'God, that's cute...'_ Andrick thought to himself before speaking.

"...wait, are you crying?" The shepherd said.

Fuze had his hands cupping his head. He faintly sobbed into them. Andrick felt a sudden pit in his stomach.

"H-Hey, Fuze, a-are you alright? Buddy, what's wrong?"

The earnest care in that voice was something the catyena had never heard directed at him before. Somebody finally cares about him. His chest felt heavy from sobbing - alerting him to stop crying lest his lungs cant handle the weight of the gravity while breathing so jagged and unevenly.

"Gahhhh.... I-I-I'm okay. I'm just... crying... because... t-this is the first time... the first time, you..." Fuze's voice squeaked from emotion. "f-first time somebody's talked like they cared about me in.... in a while...."

"H-Hey, it's alright. Hey..." Andrick got up from his seat. "...stand up for a second."

And Fuze did, standing weakly infront of Andrick, recovering himself. Suddenly, warmth. .... Andrick hugged him. Fuze felt, for the first time in a long time, a sense of comfort and compassion from another as Andrick's arms held him close and tight.

Instead of breaking into a sorrowful mourn of the time he'd spent without such feelings, he let out a happy sigh. He felt... happy. He relaxed and wrapped his arms around Andrick, making the hug mutual.

This was the start of something invaluable to the both of them.

Andrick spoke gently with the catyena in his arms, taking a glance at the only other person, the barkeep, who simply gave a knowing nod.

"Hey... Fuze. If you'd like to talk some more...  
...  
...would you like to come to my place for the night?"


	2. Kattundyena and Trevund

Fuze accepted Andrick's invitation with a nod. He took another moment to take in the shepherd that stood infront of him. The canine seemed earnest enough. For Fuze, his back-of-mind suspicions about the legitimacy and trustability of the cam-man were put entirely to ease when they actually showed up. But, an invitation to his room... though the catyena was lacking in much social interaction, he'd read plenty of romance stories on his phone. Wasn't the 'invitation to the other's room' a big step after a couple had been together for a while? Fuze faintly shook his head as he walked behind Andrick through sector R-F2. Just overthinking things again, maybe. With a deep breath, he put his anxieties in the back of his head. He could stay safe even if the worst anxious and doubtful prediction happened.

Sector R-F2 was the biggest hub of activity on the ship by residents. A public square with comfortable benches lined about towards the middle, and each of the 4 sides of the sector had multiple retail and luxury establishments. Arcades, bars, restaurants, food stores, a library, clothing stores, the works. Fuze seldom spent time anywhere besides Serenity. On average, there were too many people to be comfortable around for him. Restaurants would be bustling, bars lively, arcades filled with people hogging all the good games. Food stores felt redundant to him, and he could personally ask for a book from the library to be put in a box and set infront of his quarters' door. Andrick took the walk through the sector to make more conversation.

"So, besides that bar... how often do you spend time here? Any places you like to visit?"

"...not really. It's always so crowded...."

"Aw. Well, there anywhere you wish you could hang out at?"

"...maybe the Revolution Arcade or Club Disco. Not today, though..."

"I gotcha."

As the two got towards one of the corridors leading out, Fuze found his gaze glued to a certain shop's window again. A high-end fashion store, Haute Cosmos. Some of the best-looking clothes in the system, made of fine fibers. Since Fuze had arrived at Ether, there was a gorgeous pink scarf on display on the window. Advertised for being one-of-a-kind, made from a fiber mixture of silk and rayon material, and being heavenly to the touch. But, being both a fancy unique item and being of elusive finely-made materials made it come with an extreme price tag- 20,000 Credits. Less than what the cat-hyena made in a year of work. Despite setting a small bit of money aside to save up, he was still what felt like infinitely away...

But soon they were past Haute Cosmos and in a metal lit hallway, wide enough to nicely fit Fuze and Andrick right beside eachother. The rest of the walk was ever-so-quiet, the only noise being the sound of the walking itself. Despite the silence, there was a certain comfort to walking snugly besides someone... Fuze's mind went on autopilot, soaking up that feeling of comfort for the rest of the walk. Time melted quickly, as the next consciously gathered information was that they were already at Andrick's room. Room ID T2L-936

"Here we are." The canine said, pulling his keycard out and scanning it.

Inside, it was awe-striking. Fuze's eyes opened wide. It was far, far larger than his own room, and much more luxurious; a large fridge, good-sized oven-dishwasher-and-sink machine, large table and cozy chairs, a desk for the computer, and a large bed with a thicker and cozier mattress and subsequent set of blankets and pillows. There was even a couch and holo TV, and he floor was better too- instead of a naked, frigid metal sheet, it was covered in a smooth carpet. The thick sturdy window that gave view to space was larger as well. Fuze stepped further inside, silent and inspecting, moving his head around in a cat-like way.

"....You seem impressed. This really isn't anything special..." Andrick awkwardly rubbed the back of his own head, then grabbing a pair of glasses from the desk's drawer and putting them on.

"...it's far nicer than my place."

"Oh.... really?"

"Yeah... mine's cramped, to say the least."

"Man.... that's just stupid."

"You've got that right."

Andrick walked towards his fridge, trying to change the subject to lighten the mood. 

"Would you happen to want dinner?" He said, opening it up and reviewing the contents.

"Nah, I think I'm good. Ate my own food earlier."

"What'd'ya have?" 

"A cold tin of tuna and sardines."

Andrick grimaced, "Ehhhugh.... ."

"Heh. Part-feline, remember?"

"Alright. Sure you don't want anythin'?"

Fuze nodded. Andrick took out a large box covered in frost and shut the fridge's door. The box had a savory photograph of a large pizza, and in fancy font was written '~DiVolo's Pizza~'. Quite extravagant-looking, quite expensive. Andrick quickly opened up the box and pulled out the frozen pizza, getting it in the oven eagerly and quickly.

Andrick sat himself down at the table after turning it on, and Fuze sat on a cozy table chair from the other side, facing the dog from across it. He sat his elbows down, leaning in and holding his head up by the chin with his combined hands. The catyena's mind loftily drifted with questions to ask the dog before finally resting on one.

"...So, let me ask... why were you on the storage camera for long, watching me?"

"I-... I think I already told you? It's because I had to ensure that your legs wouldn't fail whilst you were operating heavy exercise equipment..."

"Yes, of course. But who assigned you?"

"Uhm.... Fisk, I think that was his name.."

"Oh. The cargo bay's chiropractor, right?"

"Yes, yes. Why'd you ask it like a knife, though?"

"....O-Oh. Well, I'm sorry about that..." Fuze awkwardly rubbed his head. "...I'm just... slightly tense, I guess? This IS the first time I've really... met, like, anyone. I dunno...."

"Yeahhh... I've gotcha."

A deafening, awkward silence. There was only the hum of the oven and the room's lights.

"...So, uhm... wanna tell me about yourself?" Fuze finally managed to break the silence.

Andrick adjusted his glasses, pushing them back up before responding.

"Well... as you know already, I work with the security department, as a camera operator. It's a pretty basic job. I just shift between camera feeds, and report anything I see that violates any rules, codes, laws, blah-blah-blah. It's boring, but, it pays nicely."

"Would you say there's any unique perks to it all?"

"I guess? It depends. I do get to have access to all the information files for all the people aboard Ether. Legal records, birth certificates, EMD reports whenever available. So, it's really down to if you'd call those some, I don't know, gigantic perks, heh."

"Heheh, yeah. I wouldn't really consider those to be big perks. But it does sound kinda interesting."

"Mhm. Any more questions?"

"Sure. Uhm.... hmm. Why did you move into the Ether?"

"Well.... I guess the novelty of it? I've always been a fan of outer space, so I obviously wanted to get residency on a gigantic space-station ship. Like, y'know, it's just really cool. I get live in an apartment with a window that gives me a view you can't get on any of the planets!"

Fuze began to smile, the enthusiasm in Andrick's words being a contagious happiness.

"Yeah... yeah. You're right, man..." He said, shying his view away, feeling slightly awkward from all this. It was an enjoyable talk, but it was still something Fuze was unfamiliar with and didn't know how to process.

Then there was a reprieve; the oven dinged. 

"Oh! Just a sec." The dog said excitedly, standing up from the table.

Andrick went over, opened the oven, pulled the pizza and tray out, and shut it. Quickly he set the food down on the counter, and immediately took a cutter and made the pizza into a bunch of pizza slices. The pizza itself was piping hot, whiffs of visible steam and all. The cheese was cooked to a perfect dark orange. Fuze wasn't hungry, but this looked too good to pass up on. He called to Andrick as the dog was reaching into a silverware cabinet, and asked to have a few slices on a plate as well. Andrick nodded and soon sat back down at the table, setting down 2 plates of pizza slices. By then, the steam was gone, and the catyena eagerly scoffed down a large bite.

God. Damn. Incredible. Heaven for the tongue. His tastebuds lit up, his brain sending dopamine signals of the goodness. Fuze reclined into his chair, savoring the bite as much as he could. He then took another bite, and another. The number of slices on his plate dropped from 2 to 0 in a flash. He felt even more comfortably full now, the sensation of the pizza still lingering. The moment was only broken after Andrick had finished his own first slice in that time.

"Well damn, dude," Andrick chuckled a bit. "guess it's good, huh?"

Fuze nodded, and then declined Andrick's offer for seconds. The catyena idly checked his holophone at the table, his eyes going wide seeing the time.

"Oh damn.. it's pretty late already...." he grumbled to the german shepherd infront of him.

"Aww. Alright. Well, Mr. Fuze Kattundyena," Andrick said jokingly, "have a good night."

"Y-Yeah, you too. Say... I know you know my last name because of my files and stuff, but what's your last name?"

"Trevund."

"Right... same to you, Mr. Andrick Trevund." Fuze let out a brief laugh. "So, uh, wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Oh, erm, sure. Same time, same place?"

"Yea. I'll be waiting just outside the bar for you this time, though."

"Alright. Well, goodnight!"

Fuze returned the gesture, saying goodnight as he went out the door and disappeared into the hallways. When he heard Andrick's door shut with a metallic 'wrrr', the catyena's mind went back into personal deep-thought. Fuze almost wanted to prance gleefully through the hallway like a fairytale protagonist and break out into song. He could hardly keep his body from just jittering with excitement- a friend! The overwhelming sense of loneliness finally felt alleviated for once. His mind didn't even hold any worry on if he hadn't acted the best in composure or manners. This was the first real good social interaction he'd felt in a long, long time, and it seemed to work well. Things were looking up for once.

When Fuze arrived back at his own quarters, his mood remained unhampered by it's cramped nature. His mind fluttered about with a unique positivity, and the catyena clung to it. Yet, with the time, he had to end the day here with no other recreations - no spare time for some computer games today. But no matter. After a warm shower and change of clothes, Fuze went to rest effortlessly. It was some of the best sleep he's ever had. 

All that was on his mind before drifting away was tomorrow... he was excited for tomorrow.

And that, too, was a first.


End file.
